Govt threatens legal action against Opposition Leader over ‘chicken smuggling’ comment

…importing chicken was necessary to meet demands

– MoA

The Agriculture Ministry has refuted, in the strongest possible terms, the malicious, false, and libellous claims and allegations made by the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in regard to the smuggling of chicken.
In a missive to the press, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has said that a major corruption has been unearthed in the Agriculture Ministry, and he is alleging that the Minister and at least one other senior official have been accused of smuggling truckloads of chicken.
The Opposition Leader has stated that, based on information he has received, several senior Police officers were instructed to allow trucks carrying huge amounts of smuggled chicken from Suriname to deliver same to the Guyana Marketing Corporation.
“A Police source said that the scheme involves over 50,000 pounds of chicken and over 1400 boxes of Rockingham chicken leg quarters. Apart from being a criminal activity, such amounts threaten the local chicken industry and rob the country of valuable tax revenue”, the Opposition Leader has charged.

The Agriculture Ministry (MoA), in response to this allegation, has said the decision to import chicken was made by the Government of Guyana, since the local consumption of chicken has been vastly increased, resulting in the local supply being unable to meet the growing demand.
“In addition to the increased local consumption, the local chicken industry was seriously affected by an outbreak of Avian Influenza in the United States of America earlier this year. That outbreak, in turn, negatively affected the importation of hatching eggs, which led to the depletion of an already inadequate supply of chicken in Guyana,” the MoA release added.

The MoA added that the decision to import chicken was to not only ensure an adequate supply, but also to stabilize prices in order to protect consumers. In the circumstances, the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), a public corporation owned and controlled by the Government of Guyana, and which falls under the supervisory authority of the Ministry of Agriculture, was duly instructed and authorised to import chicken to meet the demand of the local market.
The MoA has said that, as a result of the foregoing, the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is hereby called upon to withdraw this baseless, reckless, and libellous allegation immediately.
“The statement has already been sent for legal advice. Unless withdrawn, legal proceedings will be instituted,” the MoA has warned.